Das Boot

View other editions of Das Boot.
View books by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim.

Possibly the best book I've ever read - Rated
Those readers who didn't get into this book are unusual - tense well-written - marvellous!

The best war novel i've read - Rated
I read this book and was totally transported back in time with such vivid descriptions of World War II from a German perspective. Along with Cross of Iron by Willi Heinrich and The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer i found this to be by far the best WWII war novels I have ever read....recommended. I read the book and then watched the mini series - a perfect companion

Unnecessarily lengthy and repetetive - Rated
This book is often praised as one of the best books about the Second World War, but personally I cannot agree. For the first hundred pages or so I greatly enjoyed the novel and felt that had it developed more, then the close to six hundred pages would have been a breeze to read. However after a couple of hundred pages more, and yet another dive after yet another encounter with a British ship, one is left wondering what the author has left to say and why he is prolonging the novel unnecessarily.

True, the descriptions of life on a U-Boat are excellent and very vivid, Buchheim does his best to give the reader a powerful impression of the claustrophobia and the mundane atmosphere of life at sea, but once we have that impression it seems tedious to play it out to such an extent. The chapter entitled ‘Storm’ is a good example of this, around 70 pages devoted to the events which took place during a storm when very little, if anything, of interest occurs.

For me the greatest novel concerning the Second World War is ‘The Forgotten Soldier’ by Guy Sajer, an exciting, informative and very human account written from the perspective of a half German youth fighting on the Eastern Front which is surprisingly remarked upon only rarely.

A story of survival - Rated
Set in the late part of 1941, the U Boats no longer enjoys mastery of the Atlantic. The author, as an official Naval correspondant, joins the crew of UA a Type VII-C boat(the stable horse of the U Boat fleet) to write of life at sea.

It would be wrong to give away too much detail, as this book certainly deserves the reputation it has as one of the best war stories ever written. Those who have an interest in Naval battles or those who are interested in World War 2 will find this a truly amazing story. The author does well to describe the key characters; 'The Old Man', The Chief and the 1st and 2nd Watch Officers. Also we meet Johann, the Chief Mechanic, and a number of other crew members, all who have a key role to play onboard the submarine.

You can hear the diesel motors hammering, experience the claustrophobia, lack of personal space, frustration and boredom, sense the combined fear, excitement and exhileration during an attack, and picture the helpless situation of the crew during a depth charge run.

It is quite a long story at just over 550 pages, but has an addictive quality which makes it very hard to put down. The men do not seem to think that they are in any way brave, they just know they have to obey orders and carry out their duty. From start to finish this is compulsive reading.

The film starring Jurgen Prochnow as 'The Old Man' should also be watched, as this is a rare occasion where the film is as good as the book. If you enjoy Das Boot, consider also reading 'Iron Coffins' by Herbert Werner(one of the few surviving U Boat Captains) and also Hirschfeld's 'The secret diary of a U Boat' written by a serving radio operator.

Long and Boring - Rated
Maybe it just wasn't the right time of year for this book (a good winter, rain and frost type read), or maybe it's just the wrong war, since Great War authors like Remarque, Graves, Blunden, Sassoon and Manning knock this tale flying... but I could not immerse myself in this book. The claustrophobia of the film here seems repetitive and listless, with the constant descriptions of rotting food, the ship's fly and the captain's dirty jumper jarring on my nerves. Very little happens and the battles at sea can be confusing. Again in another near-miss with this book, I found the descriptions of how the boat worked unellucidating; an essential element in getting to grips with the story itself. And the end? Ironic but ultimately inevitable.

War is Hell, and so was chugging through to the end of this...